*Non-graduates’ training programmes also open for additional 100,000 young Nigerians
IN WHAT IS THE FIRST ROLL-OUT OF ITS N500B SOCIAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMMES,
the Buhari presidency will start taking applications online for positions
in the 500,000 direct teacher jobs scheme, through an internet portal
named npower.gov.ng.
A statement signed by Laolu Akande, Spokesperson to the Vice President
said while the portal would be live on Saturday June 11, applications are
expected to start coming in on June 12, the beginning of next week. Young
unemployed Nigerians are advised to visit the website and apply.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari in his May 29th
Democracy Day broadcast to the nation formally launched the unprecedented
social investment programmes already provided for under the 2016
Appropriation by the administration.
The 500,000 Teacher Corps, nicknamed N-Power Teach on the portal, is one
of the three direct job creation and training schemes Nigerians can start
applying for from Sunday, June 12.
Others are N-Power Knowledge which will train 25,000 Nigerians in the area
of technology, and N-Power Build, which train another 75,000 in the areas
of building services, construction, utilities, hospitality and catering,
automotive vocations, aluminium and gas services.
All trainees would be paid for the duration of their training.
The N-Power Teacher Corps initiative which will engage and train 500,000
young unemployed graduates, is a paid volunteer programme of a 2-year
duration. Unemployed Nigerians selected and trained will play teaching,
instructional, and advisory roles in primary, and secondary schools,
agricultural extension systems across the country, public health and
community education-covering civic and adult education.
Besides their monthly take home pay estimated at about N23,000, the
selected 500,000 graduates will also get computer devices that will
contain information necessary for their specific engagement, as well as
information for their continuous training and development. They get to
keep the devices even after exiting from the program.
According to the plan of the Buhari administration, the N-Power Teacher
Corps programme is an invaluable opportunity for young Nigerians to make
immense economic and social contributions to the nation while developing
their skills. It will also help to address the problems of inadequate
teachers in public schools.
Also, persons enlisted under the scheme will gain work experience and
acquire key competencies through academic and non-academic capacity
building programmes intended to improve their competitiveness in the
workplace. Their devices will come loaded with knowledge-oriented
applications and software that will enable them acquire the skills and
capacity.
Under the N-Power Knowledge scheme, there are three aspects: Creative,
Technology Software and Hardware. These three sub-divisions would will
train 25,000 young Nigerians in all.
5000 of them would be trained in Animation, Graphic Design,
Post-Production, Script-Writing. All of those under the sub-division of
N-Power Knowledge-creative category.
The N-Power Knowledge scheme also has a technology category in two
aspects: hardware and software. 10,000 Nigerians would be trained, and
equipped in the area of software development, including web designers, and
another 10,000 in hardware expertise including to repair, maintain and
assemble mobile phones, tablets, computers and other devices.
Also the N-Power Build category was designed realizing that the presence
of a well-trained and highly skilled youth population in any economy has
direct impact on entrepreneurship/wealth creation, which in turn leads to
a decline in unemployment.
N-Power Build is therefore an accelerated training and certification
(Skills to Job/Enterprise) programme that will engage and train 75,000
young unemployed Nigerians in order to build a new crop of skilled and
highly competent workforce of technicians, artisans and service
professionals.
The other schemes in the Buhari presidency Social Investment Programmes
which would soon be rolled out in the coming weeks.
These include the Conditional Cash Transfer that pays N5000 monthly to one
million Nigerians, the Micro-Credit Scheme for more than 1.5 million
Nigerians, the Home Grown School Feeding programme that will serve 5.5
million Nigerian pupils in primary school a free hot meal per day this
year and the Education support grant programme for 100,000 tertiary
students in Science Technology Engineering & Mathematics, STEM and
education.